1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a ground terminal for shielded cables and to a method of assembling it.
2. Description of the Related Art.
Shielded cables are used widely, for example, in electric automotive vehicles so that electromagnetic waves do not seriously affect electric equipment in the vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,493 discloses a grounding connection for shielded cables that uses space efficiently so that two shielded cables can be arranged side by side. This grounding connection uses terminals that have a cable connection and a terminal mount. The cable connection is a ring configured to fit to a braided wire of one of two side by side shielded cables. The terminal mount projects from the cable connection towards the terminal mount of the other shielded cable. The two terminal mounts are placed one over the other before the grounding connection, and a shaft for grounding is inserted through aligned insertion holes for the grounding connection. Both shielded cables are grounded at a common position, and hence less space is used and the shield performance of the cables can be equalized as compared to a case where the shielded cables are grounded individually.
To connect the terminal mounting portions, an operator presses the side surfaces of both cable connections to bring the cable connections towards each other. The cable connections and the terminal mounts are at the same positions with respect to the length direction. As a result, operation forces applied to the cable connections can be translated directly into forces for connecting the terminal mounts. However, the cable connections are crimped into fixed connection with the outer circumferential surfaces of the braided wires. Thus, crimping forces are absorbed by the resiliency of inner coatings below the braided wires, and the cable connections might be connected unstably. As a countermeasure, ends of the outer coatings may be stripped to expose the braided wires. The cable connections then could be crimped into connection with the outer circumferential surfaces of the end portions of the outer coatings. The braided wires exposed from the inner coatings then could be placed on the cable connections and could be folded back towards the outer coatings. Separate crimp rings then could be mounted on and crimped into connection with the braided wires. In this way, the cable connections receive crimping forces applied to the crimp rings by being placed underneath the braided wires and reliable crimping could be performed.
The above-described cable connections and the terminal mounts must be displaced lengthwise because the crimp rings are fit. Thus, in the case where an attempt is made to assemble the terminal mounts with each other, operation forces cannot effectively act on the terminal mounts due to this displacement even if the operation forces are exerted on the cable connecting portions. Further, an operating position is small and it is difficult to perform the operation. Besides, there are no suitable operating positions in the terminal mounts. Accordingly, assembly of the terminal mounts by holding the respective shielded cables can be assumed for ease of the operation. In this case as well, it is not easy to assemble the terminal mounts since the shielded cables and the terminals easily are displaced from each other.
The invention was developed in view of the above, and an object thereof is to allow easy assembly of terminals mounted on shielded cables.